The Villa S. Restituta farm is one of the oldest in the comunity of Montalcino. For many centuries it's a property of the Castelli Martinozzi family as testify the chapel joined to the landlord's villa where the ancestors of different generations found their burial, the stem on the main gate and the ancient clock turret whose strikes echoed for centuries in the surrounding vally.

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The first mentionings of Villa S.Restituta go back to the XIVth century. In an ancient document from which we quote a passage here it is written:

"Among the parchments of the monastery of the Agostiniani monks of Montalcino that are now in the Arch. Dipl. Flor. there turned out to be one that dated from the 3th october of 1373 which mentioned the Villa di S.Restituta under the jurisdiction of Montalcino where Lady Piera by birth Ser Iacopo of Montalcino, the wife of Pietro by birth Benedetto de'Tolomei of Siena. Now the Villa S.Restituta is named also Martinozzi that has arisen from the name of a Siena's family which possesses an estate there."

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The constructions that compose the farm have been guaranteeing from the distant past the realization of all rural and handicraft activities which made it autonomous and till the fifties in a small suburb resided the farmer, farmer's wife and other families: all in all around 50 people. Also being situated within the borders of the property they guaranteed various powers. Here the vine and the olive have always been cultivated with much care as they supply the products of great value.

In the middle, the owner of the farm Cesare Castelli, on the right his daughter Cristina an the nephew Federico. On the left, the oenologist and production manager Giuseppe Bino and Marcello, collaborator. The production is supervised by the oenlogist Paolo Caciorgna.

The succession of generations haven't changed the interest of the Castelli family in this important product whose origins go back to the distant past.

Brunello of Montalcino Castelli Martinozziis a superb wine, seasoned, harmonious, the product of this rude and fruitful soil and of a relationship between man and nature that lasts for centuries. It's obtained exclusively from grapes of the homonymous vine, a clon of Sangiovese Grosso selected in the zone of Montalcino at the end of the previous century. The vineyard is grown on the spurred cord with 4500 stems per hectare and the production is of 50 quintal/hectare. The main characteristic of this wine is its high ability for seasoning in oak barrels before being put on sale..

Brunello of Montalcino Riserva Castelli Martinozzi, produced only in the years of high excellence, is a seasoned wine of superb structure in which the olfactory and gustatory components mix up and give the harmony and the vigour that make this wine the maximum expression of the wine-making production Castelli Martinozzi. In order to obtain these characteristics the Riserva passes the final period of refining that lasts for 12 months in french oak casks of 225 litres each.

The red wine of Montalcino Castelli Martinozziis a wine of high consistence, structured, which converges with Brunello by their noble origins. It's born from the vineyards characterized by a moderate climate and even this wine is obtained from the grapes of Sangiovese Grosso.

Olive Oil Castelli Martinozzi:the age-old olive trees of the farm Villa S.Restituta produces an excellent Extravirgin Olive Oil. It's a first cold pressing-out oil which has always been a product famous for its qualities and for being suitable for healthy and tasty nutrition.

Grappa of Brunello Castelli Martinozzi: Grappa of a single vine obtained from our marcs.

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SEASONINGBrunello of Montalcino is a wine that is suitable even for long periods of seasoning. The bottle should be conserved in lying position in a cool and dry place, far from temperature changes and light. If a bottle is correctly conserved the wine will maintain and will even improve its own characteristics for decades. In case a very long seasoning is desired we can resort to the operation of opening and corking of the bottles again with eventual filling up with the wine of the same year. The red wine of Montalcino Castelli Martinozzi is also seasoned in oak barrels in our wine-cellar, for a shorter period of time (8-10 months vs 36-40 of Brunello) and if correctly conserved in lying position in a cool and dry place it can be conserved for more than 10 years.

COMPLEMENTS

Being a perfect complement to roast meat, Brunello of Montalcino must be served with feathered game and jugged fur-bearing wildfowl; the complement to the seasoned cheeses like Pecorino of Tuscany and Parmigiano is ideal. It's also marked as a wine for "meditating", especially at the peak of its ripening evolution. The bottle must be necessarily opened beforehand and the wine must be served at the temperature of 18-20°C.

The red wine of Montalcino is an ideal accompaniment of Siena's cuisine (dry sausages or roast, pinci with ragout, scottiglia of chicken, sheep cheese) and it's in general advised with the dishes on the basis of meat with sauces and cheese. The bottle must be opened beforehand and the wine must be served at the temperature of 18-20°C.

The farm Castelli Martinozzi is situated 10 km far from Montalcino and towers over the vally of Orcia and the hills that indicate in the west the bound of the Maremma of Tuscany. Its area is of 160 hectares of which 12 hectares of vineyard alternate with 16 hectares of olive grove, wood and the sown area that has the optimal altitude from 400 to 480 m above sea level. Different factors such as the correct location of the cultivated area, the absence of fog, the presence of good ventilation create a climatic microhabitat that guarantees high quality products even in lean years.

The most ancient prize for wine Castelli Martinozzi (in the photo) was received in Siena in a provincial viticulture-wine-making contest by Cesare Francalanci Martinozzi in 1892 of which we conserve a certificate.

The farm Villa S.Restituta had defensive characteristics. In the old wine-cellar on that used to be the external wall it's still possible to observe the apertures for shooting and on the front - a small arched door that is elevated over the ground called also "the door of the dead" which is so narrow that it allows the entrance of only one person at a time and thus permits the defence.

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At present the various constructions of which the farm is composed testify to the activities of ancient times: besides the wine-cellars where Brunello is constantly finishing its seasoning cicle we also find a granary with riddles, small stables, a joiner's workshop, a smithy with bellows, wooden ovens for making bread and for boiling the washing with ashes, a mill, a greenhouse for lemons for the winter reserve and wells for rain water that are connected with each other by means of galleries..

In a special room there was practised the breeding of silk-worms, there were also looms for weaving, an ancient oil mill with stone mills and earthenware jugs that always conserved the superb extravirgin olive oil. During the pressing out the vegetable oil obtained from the oil separator was collected in stone bowls situated in a small place called "hell" where the illumination oil was collected which served for oil-lamps and other lighting devices. Over these constructions even now dominates a small bell-tower together with the chapel built in 1700 and the clock turret with a marble face on which the single hand, the hour-hand, marked a slow declamation of time in the epoch in which minutes were of lower importance.At a small distance from the farm there are still visible the remains of an etruscan road, which lead from Casentino to Roselle.

The most ancient prize for wine Castelli Martinozzi (in the photo) was received in Siena in a provincial viticulture-wine-making contest by Cesare Francalanci Martinozzi in 1892 of which we conserve a certificate.